Exhibition

Exhibition

Special Exhibition ― Botticelli: La Bella Simonetta ―

March 18 (The.) – May 24 (Sat.), 2025
Closed: Sundays and national holidays

Exhibition Introduction

In collaboration with the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo’s annual Spring Festival and the concurrent Expo 2025, Marubeni Gallery holds a special exhibition displaying the only tempera painting by Botticelli in Japan, which is held by Marubeni Corporation. The model of this painting, Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, was a beautiful woman who died young yet was immortalized in the masterpieces La Primavera and The Birth of Venus. She was indeed a symbol of the “spring of Florence” and the “spring of the Renaissance”.
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Yashiro Yukio, a world-renowned researcher of Botticelli. The Museum Yamato Bunkakan in Nara is holding The Memorial Exhibition of the 50th Anniversary of Yashiro Yukio’s Death almost simultaneously. It is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tsuji Kunio, the author of the novel Haru no Taikan (The Coronation in Spring), in which Simonetta appears. The spring special exhibition is held in kindred spirit with these memorial events.
We sincerely hope that as many people as possible will take this opportunity to closely view and appreciate La Bella Simonetta.

About this Exhibition

Simonetta, a symbol of spring in Florence

Sandro Botticelli who painted La Bella Simonetta was a master of the Renaissance. In the early 1480s he painted his masterpieces, La Primavera; (The Spring) (Uffizi Galleries) and The Birth of Venus (Uffizi Galleries).
Simonetta is said to have inspired Botticelli to create these paintings, she was born in 1453, as a daughter of a wealthy merchant in Genoa, married Marco Vespucci, the cousin of a famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and lived in Florence. In 1475, she became a public figure when she was chosen as the “Queen of Beauty" during a jousting match. But soon thereafter, in April 1476, misfortune would cross her life’s path. She was posthumously painted many a time by Botticelli and other painters. Thus was her beauty, considered unparalleled by those of her time, passed on to posterity.

Sandro Botticelli, La Bella Simonetta, late 15th century, Tokyo, Marubeni Corporation

Sandro Botticelli, La Bella Simonetta, late 15th century, Tokyo, Marubeni Corporation

The title of this portrait

Marubeni Gallery has named the painting La Bella Simonetta for the following reasons. It is in accordance with the following text from the revised edition of Sandro Botticelli, the magnum opus by the Japanese art historian Yashiro Yukio, published in 1929.
“There are five portraits said to be of ‘La Bella Simonetta,’ and as I have already pointed out, they are all in the same Botticelli-sequel painting style. I have recently come to the conclusion that the beautiful profile portrait of a lady which was previously in the Kappel Collection and currently belongs to Dr. Noah (now in the Marubeni Collection) in Berlin is a work by Botticelli.”

Yashiro Yukio, Sandro Botticelli, 1925, The Medici Society, London ＆Boston.

Yashiro Yukio, Sandro Botticelli, 1925, The Medici Society, London ＆Boston.

The provenance of La Bella Simonetta

Since La Bella Simonetta was rediscovered in Bologna, Italy, in the early 18th century, it has traveled to a total of five countries–France, Britain, Germany, and back to Britain–before arriving in Japan in 1969, when it was imported from Britain by Marubeni Corporation.
The fact that the provenance of this painting can be traced back so far is significant, as it is quite rare to be able to trace the provenance of any of Botticelli’s works back to the early 19th century (or earlier) and to even have a copperplate reproduction from that period. In this exhibition, such rare books related to the history are also exhibited.

Masterpieces from Britain – from the Renaissance to Contemporary Art, 1969, Marubeni Art Gallery

Masterpieces from Britain – from the Renaissance to Contemporary Art, 1969, Marubeni Art Gallery

Botticelli's masterpieces modeled on Simonetta

Ruskin, an art critic of the late 19th century, and others, however, have said that most of the women in Botticelli’s paintings used the same model, speculating that it might be Simonetta. Indeed, the faces of the women in La Primavera ; The Spring and The Birth of Venus, Venus and Mars, they sometimes appear to be depictions of the same woman. Simonetta in the Marubeni collection is the only portrait which might have been depicted during her lifetime, and Simonetta in other paintings seems templatized like cartoon characters. The jewel pendant of the same design worn by La Bella Simonetta in the collection of the Marubeni Corporation is seen repeatedly on the breasts of Simonetta-like women in Botticelli’s paintings.

Ernst Moritz Geyger, Primavera after Sandro Botticelli, Etching, 1894, Private Collection

Ernst Moritz Geyger, Primavera after Sandro Botticelli, Etching, 1894, Private Collection

Future Exhibits (Tentative Title/Details):
Splendor and Sophistication: Kimono Masterpieces with Yuzen Dyeing in the Marubeni Collection
(August 5 to September 25, 2025)

Past exhibitions